A novel-eye-tracking sensor for AR glasses based on laser self-mixing showing exceptional robustness against illumination

The integration of eye-tracking sensors in next-generation AR glasses will increase usability and enable new interaction concepts. Consumer AR glasses emphasize however additional requirements to eye-tracking sensors, such as high integratability and robustness to ambient illumination. We propose a novel eye-tracking sensor based on the self-mixing interference (SMI) effect of lasers. In consequence, our sensor as small as a grain of sand shows exceptional robustness against ambient radiation compared to conventional camera-based eye trackers. In this paper, we evaluate ambient light robustness under different illumination conditions for video-based oculography, conventional scanned laser eye tracking as well as the SMI-based sensor.